Justine Henin has passed the first serious test in her tennis comeback when she defeated the Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva 7-5 7-6 at the Australian Open.
The Belgian is in Melbourne as a wildcard entry as she has no ranking but dispelled any doubts about whether she can mix it with the best with a performance reminiscent of when she was world number one.
The fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro also provided a reminder of the fighting qualities that enabled him to topple Roger Federer in last year's U.S. Open final when he beat James Blake 6-4 6-7 5-7 6-3 10-8.
And the second seed Rafa Nadal erased any lingering concerns about his fitness with an effortless straight sets win over Slovakia's Lukas Lacko.
Kim Clijsters, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina had no problems booking spots in the third round of the women's draw while Andy Roddick and Andy Murray did likewise in the men's.
Henin says her comeback was inspired by compatriot Clijsters' fairytale win at last year's U.S. Open and her win over the world number five vindicates her decision.
She'll play another Russian, the 27th seed Alisa Kleybanova, in the third round.
